Punjab Post Daily Online Newspaper & Print Media
Harjap Singh Aujla
In addition to being the home to a world famous shrine the holy Golden Temple, Amritsar is considered by many as the food capital of India. It has so much variety of food that a gourmet buff needs to spend days in this city to savor food of all varieties. There are some eatries in the old parts of the city, which were founded more than a century ago, but their favorite recipes have hitherto remained unchanged. Its vegetarian food has dazzled many a European tourist.
I have tasted all kinds of food offered by this great city in restaurants like “Kesar Da Dhaba” and “Bharawan Da Dhaba”. I have tasted non-vegetarian delicacies in once famous “Mangal Dass Soni Da Dhaba”. Every delicacy on offer is mouth watering. Amritsar’s famous “Paranthas” are available almost in every hotel and restaurant. The most famous ones are the stuffed potato Paranthas. In winters the Parathas stuffed with crushed Moolis and minced cauliflower (Gobhi) give a tough competition to the all season favorite potato stuffed Parathas.
The non-vegetarian restaurants offer minced goat meat (mutton) Paranthas too. Now minced chicken Paranthas are also available, which are as tasty as the mutton Parathas. With a little more innovation, a lot more variety can be offered. The restaurants in Amritsar cook some very delicious Bangan Bhartha (a well done minced bringle delicacy) dishes. The Bangan Bhartha can easily be stuffed in the Parathas. Egg Bhurgi (finely scrambled eggs cooked in tomatoes, onions, ginger, termeric and garlic) can also be stuffed into Amritsari Paranthas to create a novel mouth watering delicacy. Similarly Paneer Bhurgi (ground Indian cheese {Panir} cooked in tomatoes, onions, ginger, turmeric and garlic) can be used as a stuffing into the Amritsari Paranthas.
The freshly cooked Amritsari Paranthas of all kinds can be frozen immediately or vaccum packed to be shipped to far off places like Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Kolkata. For the tourists visiting the city, some freshly cooked, warm from the oven, Amritsari Paranthas should be served. These Paranthas can be marketed under brand names of “Verka” and “Sohna”. Even Pepsi, with its vast machinery for chilling and packaging can be roped in to market exotic Amritsari Parathas abroad. Amritsar needs to show a spirit of innovation, to market its products within India and abroad. In foreign countries, the people do not have time to cook food and they are not experts at cooking great delicious food. For them Amritsari food can come as a boon. All the famous eating places in Amritsar can be roped in, but there is one requisite, the quality of food must be maintained consistent for all the consignments. One bad piece can ruin the total business. The level of cleanliness and hygiene at the work place and its surroundings must not be compromised at all. Amritsar is great city, but its marketing to the rest of the world is badly flawed. Let us all join hands to make it the target of envy by the other cities all around the globe.
